To Find the Best Cocktail Smokers, I Smoked Tequila, Whiskey, and a Dozen Oysters

Smoked cocktails burst onto the bar scene in 2007 when mixologist Eben Freeman of Manhattan’s Tailor took some cherry and alder wood and smoked the bar’s house-made Coca-Cola syrup. Neat! The showmanship of the smoking process took off, and it’s no longer a surprise to sit at a bar with a smoke-filled cloche covering your tipple. While cocktail trends wax and wane and the smoked drink has had its share of eyerolls, it’s still a fun party trick. And, if done well, that bit of smoke can add a little intrigue to each sip. 

But nowadays you don’t have to go to a bar to get a smoked cocktail. Cocktail smokers and bubble makers are readily available for purchase, so you too can add the aroma of charred hickory to your Old Fashioned or give white rum a sweet mesquite backbone. I tested seven of them, as well as two bubble-making kits, to find the best cocktail smokers to add a pinch of magic to your home mixology game. 

The Winners, at a Glance

The Best Cocktail Smoker

Breville The Smoking Gun Pro

$150 at Amazon $150 at Williams-Sonoma View on Webstaurantstore.com

Light the wood chips, turn on the fan, and the Breville PolyScience rapidly fills the cloche with smoke. Neat spirits and an Old Fashioned had a noticeable smoky flavor that didn’t overpower the subtleties of the ingredients. 

Another Great Cocktail Smoker

Breville The Smoking Gun and Cloche

$155 at Williams-Sonoma View on Breville.com

A little more affordable and less fancy than the PolyScience, this cocktail smoker still did a fabulous job creating a cloud of smoky aroma. 

The Best Budget Cocktail Smoker

The Crafty Cocktail Cocktail Smoker Top Smoke Stack Kit

View on Thecraftycocktail.com

This simple wooden topper-style smoker was easy to use and potent; the first sip was quite smoky, though the aroma became more subtle as it settled. I was impressed by how the smoke aroma lingered until the last sip.

A Showy, Splurgy Cocktail Smoker

Stundenglass Gravity Infuser

View on Stundenglass.com

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, and yes, this is indeed meant to be a versatile, er,  smoker. While I can’t attest to its other uses, it was a fun way to infuse cocktails with a smoky aroma—and certainly an eye-catching conversation starter. 

The Best Cocktail Bubble Maker

Flavour Blaster Mini Kit

$330 at Williams-Sonoma

While this isn’t a smoker, it was a fun way to give a cocktail a little extra pop—literally. Load the blaster with the aroma oil of your choice, dip the nozzle into the bubble mixture, turn it on, and blow a bubble atop a coupe glass. 

The Tests 

• Smoked Spirits Test: I loaded up each cocktail smoker with some of the wood chips it came with (if it did), and used each to smoke two ounces of blanco tequila and two ounces of whiskey. I let each spirit sit in the smoke for five minutes. I noted how easy the cocktail smoker was to use, if the cloche or box contained the smoke, and if the final result was pleasantly smoky. 
• Bubble Test: I used the two bubble makers to blow smoke and citrus aroma bubbles on cocktails in coupe glasses and a rocks glass. 
• Smoked Cocktail Test: I used each cocktail smoker to smoke an Old Fashioned, using pear wood from Aged and Charred. 
• Smoked Oyster Test (Winners Only): For the final showdown, I smoked oysters using my favorite cocktail smokers, noting how the aroma permeated the briny bivalves. 

What We Learned 

What Is a Cocktail Smoker, and How Does It Work?

While a mini pellet grill might come to mind (how cute would that be?), cocktail smokers are more often shaped like a Star Trek phaser (the Crafthouse by Fortessa smokers in particular would look right at home in the hands of Captain Picard). The top of the smoker has a small hole with a mesh screen where you place a pinch of wood chips. A rubber tube attaches to the end of the smoker, piping out the smoke. Most have an internal fan that sucks the smoke through to the cloche, which is often a rounded plastic or glass cover. I tested other styles of smokers, too, which I’ll get into momentarily. 

Simple Cocktail Smokers Were Best, Though Complex Ones Were Fun

While smoking a cocktail is theatrical, it shouldn’t be all smoke and mirrors: It should be easy, and the smoke aroma pleasant and not overwhelming. With this in mind, some of the best cocktail smokers were the simplest. The Crafty Cocktail Cocktail Smoker Top Smoke Stack Kit was the most straightforward since there were no tubes or cloche. Instead, it looks like a little wooden top hat with a hole where you place the wood chips. Set it over your cocktail glass and use the accompanying butane torch to light it up. The smoke drops into the glass in bursts that look like plops of food coloring in water. Remove the chimney and take a sip—it’s as simple as that. 

Most other cocktail smokers I tested were more complex, using a tube to funnel the smoke into a cloche where your cocktail awaits. This isn’t the most practical way of smoking something, since the tube and cloche models were prone to leaking, and it took a powerful fan to move the smoke to the cocktail. But it sure does add intrigue and most of the results were pleasantly smoky. 

The Stundenglass smoker was by far the showiest. It consists of two pill-shaped borosilicate glass vials on either side. Just add water to one of the vials and a pinch of wood chips to the attached module, then select the burn function. The smoke fills the empty glass vial, and as you spin the vials, an air vacuum sucks the smoke down through the tube and into the cloche.

The Smoke Was an Aroma Rather Than a Deep Flavor 

Aroma plays a huge role in taste perception, and it’s no different when it comes to smoking a drink. Most of the smokiness is perceived with your nose and dissipates rather quickly; in other words, if you’re hoping to smoke a base spirit hours before a party, the smoke won’t hold up. (I did discover that adding air, whether via sparkling water or a whizz in a blender, helped express the smoke aroma fully upon sipping.) That all said, the smoked oysters were potently flavorful, tasting of brine and charred wood for a while after smoking.

Minimal Leakage Was Desirable 

The more complicated the smoker, the more weak points there were and the more smoke escaped. Smokers with a tube leading to the cloche were the worst offenders since the tube attaches to the smoker and the cloche, both points where leaks occur. The Stundenglass leaked a lot from where the tube stuck into the cloche, and I had to hold it straight to avoid tons of smoke escaping. Cloche quality was another factor, with heavier cloches with straight bottoms keeping the most smoke contained. However, most of the cloches were lightweight and didn’t sit flush with the counter (or their included wooden plate) so smoke leakage was inevitable. 

Fan Power Was Important for Moving Smoke 

Fan speed didn’t make a better cocktail smoker, but fan power did. The Breville PolyScience had a dial with various fan speeds, but I found that even the slowest was still proficient at sucking smoke through the tube and into the cloche. The same went for the less expensive Breville smoker, which had two speeds, both of which did a great job moving smoke along. The Crafthouse smokers, on the other hand, had weak fans and smoke trickled into the box and cloche. 

Bubble Makers Were Fun but Finicky

In addition to giving your cocktail a whiff of burnt wood, you can also create an edible bubble that pops when you take a sip, releasing the aroma contained inside. This is a fun party trick that delighted every friend I had over during my tests, but it also took many misses (and a whole lotta bubble fluid) to get right. While it’s fun to have a smoke-filled bubble, the Smoke Bubble Kit by Breville was too difficult to use; more often than not there was no bubble and the cocktail was left with a float of soapy-tasting bubble liquid after multiple tries. The Flavour Blaster Kit Mini was more adept at creating bubbles (in the right conditions), though it uses aroma vials rather than smoke.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Cocktail Smoker 

A good cocktail smoker should feel solid and well-made and be easy to set up and use. If it’s a cocktail gun-style smoker, it should have a strong fan that moves smoke swiftly to the cocktail with minimal leaking. The final drink should have a pleasant smoke aroma without being overpowering. While simple smokers worked well with little fuss, some flair didn’t hurt either. 

Our Favorite Cocktail Smokers (and Bubble Maker) 

The Best Cocktail Smoker

Breville The Smoking Gun Pro

$150 at Amazon $150 at Williams-Sonoma View on Webstaurantstore.com

What we liked: There was no waffling about with this smoker. It was simple, fast, and effective, pumping smoke quickly into the cloche and obscuring the cocktail from view. The resultant drink had a strong but pleasant smoky aroma that came through with each sip. It comes with two small vials of apple and hickory wood chips, which lets you get smoking right away. It also did a smashing job smoking oysters, which retained a potent whiff of woodsmoke. 

What we didn’t like: It’s pricey and not all that different from its fellow Breville smoking gun. I found the fan speed dial was overkill,  and I wished it started on the low fan setting rather than the most powerful, which was jarring. While there were no leaks from the tube, smoke did curl from the bottom of the cloche. 

Key Specs

• Tube length: 20.5 inches
• Accessories included: Applewood and hickory chips; cloche
• Power source: AAA Batteries
• Warranty: 1-year limited

Another Great Cocktail Smoker

Breville The Smoking Gun and Cloche

$155 at Williams-Sonoma View on Breville.com

What we liked: This is a simple but well-made smoker with two fan settings that were more than adequate. It quickly fanned and funneled smoke into the accompanying cloche, and the resultant aroma was sweet and balanced without any acrid overtones. 

What we didn’t like: While not quite as expensive as the PolyScience, it’s still more than $150, though this price does include the cloche. On its own, the smoking gun is $100. 

Key Specs

• Tube length: 20.5 inches
• Accessories included: Applewood and hickory chips; cloche
• Power source: AAA Batteries
• Warranty: 1-year limited

The Best Budget Cocktail Smoker

The Crafty Cocktail Cocktail Smoker Top Smoke Stack Kit

View on Thecraftycocktail.com

What we liked: This tiny top hat of a smoker is cute, easy to use, and surprisingly effective. Just add a pinch of wood chips to the top, blast it with the kit’s butane torch (the butane isn’t included), and gobs of smoke unfurl into your drink. It’s quite a mesmerizing spectacle. The Smoker Top fit over most cocktail glasses (including coupes) and resulted in a potent smoky aroma that lingered until the last sip. 

What we didn’t like: You can’t use a regular lighter with it; it’s just not powerful enough to light the wood chips. Butane isn’t included in this kit, and when you blast the wood chips with the torch, the wooden topper also gets charred. Since the topper sits directly on the glass and the smoke doesn’t have far to go, it can be incredibly potent upon first sip (like, sneeze-inducing). But once it aired out a little, it was a pleasant level of smoky. While I did use it to smoke an oyster, it took some fiddling: I wound up placing the oyster in a coupe glass and setting the smoke stack atop. It did a good job imbuing the bivalve with a smoky flavor, but it wasn’t exactly an ideal setup—I’d save this one for drinks only. 

Key Specs

• Tube length: N/A
• Accessories included: Wood chips, butane torch (no butane included)
• Power source: Butane torch
• Warranty: None

A Showy, Splurgy Cocktail Smoker

Stundenglass Gravity Infuser

View on Stundenglass.com

What we liked: This is fun to use and eye-catching. I liked the igniter module (no lighter needed) and spinning the glass vials was oddly soothing. While the smoke leaked out of the tube on the cloche side, it still resulted in a subtly smoky cocktail with a pleasant aroma—ditto for oysters. 

What we didn’t like: It’s the most expensive smoker I tested, and it’s big. (That said, if storage is an issue, Stundenglass sells a smaller version that comes with a case.) It leaked smoke where the tube connected to the cloche. The module is sold separately, and if you don’t buy it you have to use a lighter. 

Key Specs

• Tube length: 43 inches
• Accessories included: Silicone hose assembly, infusion chamber assembly, cleaning kit 
• Power source: Battery (in module); without module you’ll need a lighter 
• Warranty: 10 year

The Best Cocktail Bubble Maker

Flavour Blaster Mini Kit

$330 at Williams-Sonoma

What we liked: This thing will wow your friends. Pick an aroma (this kit comes with citrus and smoke, though you can buy more), fill the included canister, then slot it into the blaster and dip the tip into the bubble mixture. Place it over the cocktail, turn it on, and blow a big bubble filled with scented air. It’s mostly easy to use and adds a kitschy but delightful level of fun to a drink.

What we didn’t like: It’s expensive and the included aromas smelled artificial; the smoke aroma smelled like cough syrup. It doesn’t work well with rocks glasses or other straight-edged cups. 

Key Specs

• Tube length: N/A
• Accessories included: Micro USB charging cable, 2 disposable tanks, 2 aroma bottles in citrus and smoke, Bubble X (60ml), Bubble X bowl, atomizer
• Power source: Rechargeable battery 
• Warranty: 12-month guarantee

The Competition 

Also Good

• Homia Smoking Gun: While the gun itself felt chintzy (the battery chamber was hard to open and close and stuck out), it was easy to use and did a decent job funneling smoke through to the cloche. The fan was weaker than the Breville’s, though, and the included cloche was quite shallow—I couldn’t fit a coupe glass or a highball glass under it.

Not Recommended

• Crafthouse by Fortessa Cocktail Smoking Box: With a weak fan and a large, leaky box, this set was all bluster and no substance. It’s also expensive for what you get, and the included wood chips were unlabeled, adding a bit of mystery (and slightly acrid char).
• Crafthouse by Fortessa Glass Smoking Cloche With Smoke Infusing Gun: This had an identical smoker to the above, and was equally weak and leaky. 
• Breville the Smoke Bubble Kit: While a great idea in theory, it took many, many tries to finally get a bubble that didn’t pop immediately. The bubble liquid tasted soapy. 
• Gramercy Kitchen Cocktail Smoker: This petite smoker was easy to store. However, the included wood chips were bitter and left drinks unpalatable. 
• MITBAK Cocktail Smoker With Dome Lid and Wood Chips: This unit was easy to use, but the dome was too short—you couldn't fit much more than a rocks glass in there. The wood chips imparted a stale smoke flavor. 

FAQs

Why would you use a smoker for a cocktail? 

Smoking a cocktail imbues it with a husky flavor and adds depth to a drink. Not to mention it’s a fun party trick to lift the cloche, releasing the smoke and revealing the cocktail. 

How long do you need to smoke a spirit or cocktail for? 

In my tests, I ran the smokers until the cloche was filled with smoke and let the drink sit for five minutes. I also let cocktails smoked with the Cocktail Smoker Top Smoke Stack Kit sit for five minutes after lighting the wood chips. 

Can you use a cocktail smoker for something else?

You sure can! While a pellet smoker is better for smoking meats, you can use a cocktail smoker to lightly smoke a number of foods, with oysters taking particularly well to the process. However, it’s worth noting that smoking food with a cocktail smoker won’t actually cook it.  

Is a cocktail smoker safe?

As long as you’re using it in a well-ventilated area, a cocktail smoker is perfectly safe. If you buy the Crafty Cocktail Smoker, be careful with the butane torch and make sure it’s set on safety mode when not in use. 

Why We’re the Experts 

• Grace Kelly is a commerce editor at Serious Eats, where she’s been testing equipment for over two years. 
• For this review, she tested nine cocktail smokers by using them to smoke blanco tequila, whiskey, and Old Fashioneds. She also tested two bubble maker kits.
• Kate Dingwall first reviewed cocktail smokers for Serious Eats in 2022. This current review included her winners and added a few new options to the testing lineup.